Remember!

What are you remembering?  

Lent just began yesterday--the 40 day time of preparation leading to Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday.  And to prepare, we daily need to remember.  

Yesterday--Ash Wednesday--marked the beginning of Lent, and many churches have an Ash Wednesday service where the sign of the cross is written across foreheads in ashes and the words are repeated:"Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return."  

Because in order to truly celebrate what Jesus has done for us--the wondrous gift of salvation and eternal life--we must first and always remember.  W\

Remember we are merely dust, returning to dust.  

Remember the curse of sin and death.  Remember our own mortality.  

Remember the chains of sin that bound us...

And remember, through Christ, those chains are gone.  

Remember that Jesus has conquered sin and death and given the gift of eternal, abundant Life to all who come to Him by faith.

Remember all that we possess in Him.

Remember His relentless goodness to us in our daily lives. 

Remember that sin and death no longer have the final word.

Remember that we're not Home yet...and the best, best, best is yet to come.

Remember the certain hope of heaven ahead of us and the steady joy of God's presence with us now. 

Because before we can rejoice, we must remember.  

On this blustery, but sunny, March day, I'm remembering the cold and snow of January...and that remembering fuels my rejoicing today. 

             I'm remembering Christmas with all our family...and rejoicing anew over the Gift of Jesus and of the joy of being with those I love.

           I'm remembering the astounding beauty of the mountains...and the ocean...and again, the deep happiness of sharing  it with our family.

               "And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not." (Deuteronomy 8:2)
               "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:26)
               "I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago." (Ps.77:11)
               But can I admit something: I'm a mighty good forgetter.  I forget names.  I forget directions.  I forget recipes.  I just plain forget an awful lot.
             Yep, I've got the memory of a gnat...but I'm realizing that if God commands us to remember who He is and what He has done, then He'll enable us to do it.  And Lent is all about remembering...so that in about 40 days, we can truly and exuberantly rejoice.
             At the very end of his life, John Newton shared that he had lost his memory and could no longer remember much of anything.  BUT he went on to say that there were two things he would never, ever forget: "I'm a great sinner...but Christ is a Great Savior."  Amen!
            So over the course of the next forty days of Lent, let's determine to make it a priority to spend some time every single day pausing to reflect and remember.  Remember who you are and what you've done (we're all of us are great sinners).  But then remember all that Christ has done--both in His Word and in your life--He truly is a Great, Great Savior.
           Let's daily remember, but then let's store up all those remembrances over the next forty days...for all that remembering will exponentially fuel our rejoicing and celebrating on the Resurrection Day that's coming.
           Oh Father, help us daily to remember all that You are and all that You have done.  Might our remembering fuel our rejoicing in You and in this day, this life, You've so graciously given us.  Thank You for being such a good, great, and glorious Savior.  We remember, Lord Jesus, and we rejoice.
           To God be the glory.